UFC Fighter Polyana Viana Beat-Up Would-Be Thief Over the Weekend

UFC fighter Polyana Viana thwarted a would be thief over the weekend and made him pay dearly for the attempt.

Evidently, around 8 p.m. local time on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, where Viana lives, a man tried to steal Viana's phone. He didn't come anywhere close to accomplishing his objective, as Viana defended herself and then detained the man until police arrived.

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“When he saw I saw him, he sat next to me,” Viana told MMAJunkie. “He asked me the time, I said it, and I saw he wasn’t going to leave. So I already moved to put my cell phone in my waist. And then he said, ‘Give me the phone. Don’t try to react, because I’m armed.’ Then he put his hand over (a gun), but I realized it was too soft.

“He was really close to me. So I thought, ‘If it’s a gun, he won’t have time to draw it.’ So I stood up. I threw two punches and a kick. He fell, then I caught him in a rear-naked choke. Then I sat him down in the same place we were before and said, ‘Now we’ll wait for the police.’”

Viana went on to tell MMAJunkie that the man actually encouraged her when she said she was going to call the police, she thinks because he was scared that she might "beat him up more." She also later learned that what the man had indicated was a gun was actually cardboard cutout meant to look like he had a gun on his person.

https://twitter.com/danawhite/status/1082110419785969666

Viana (10-2) has had two fights in the Octagon. She won her UFC debut by defeating Maia Stevenson in February of last year before dropping a unanimous decision to JJ Aldrich in August. She hasn't fought since, but is apparently looking for a fight.

After news of the incident over the weekend broke, MMA manager Alex Davis tweeted out a message to the UFC, asking for them to book a fight for Viana, giving a nod to her weekend thwarting of the would-be thief.

"The Robber Union in Rio de Janeiro is asking that the UFC please give a fight to Polyana soon! They are worried for their safety while she is loose out there and with nothing to do!"